Tuesday, 25 May 2010

Simony's eyes gleamed with the gleam of a man who had seen the future and found it covered with armour plating. -- (Terry Pratchett, Small Gods)

A lone Proteus burns down on Aiko's Onyx, 160km off the Eifer gate in Gusandall. Never ones to pass up on a shiny kill the locals extend the traditional Gus welcome. My first thought was to board Havelock Vetinari, my Bhaalgorn but something about this had my Admiral Akbar senses tingling, so I boarded something a little less shiny but none the less potent, an Armageddon class battleship.

Armageddon

The mighty Armageddon class is the main warship of the Amarr Empire. Its heavy armaments and strong front are specially designed to crash into any battle like a juggernaut and deliver swift justice in the name of the Emperor.

Amarr Battleship Skill Bonus: 10% bonus to Large Energy Turret capacitor use and 5% Large Energy Turret rate of fire per level.

I undock and warp directly to Aiko's position where the Proteus has him engaged, Aiko, as is his nature of course has the strategic cruiser pointed and is firing back. I land and light the Proteus up with some Mega Pulse II cheer. I'm followed by a few others and things got a little hotter as an Arazu decloaks and pops a cyno. Order is given to align out, it seems the hotdrop is on.

A Thanatos carrier jumps in and I'm like, fuck this shit, primary the Arazu to drop it as quickly as possible so that the cyno field would drop and nothing else could jump through. Thanatos goes straight into triage and easily reps the Arazu and Proteus as we switch targets rapidly. I'm in the fight for the long haul, I'm firmly tackled and primaried by the three ships but AMAHGAHD is made of stern stuff, merely shrugging off the damage of the recon, strategic cruiser and carrier's Ogre IIs. They eventually switch primary as they hit the geddon's massive armour at 95%.

We keep switching targets and the Thanny drops out of its first triage cycle, points on, carrier, all DPS on Arazu.

I say we, yes, we decided to fight even though the danger of escalation stared us right in the face.

Thanatos drops into a second triage cycle and we start to make plans to escalate. Nomi warps his own Thanatos onto the field and we engage the offending carrier with all DPS. The Thanny pilot sends a massive wave of large ECM drones my way as he seems to have taken a personal dislike of my chiselled features. I lose lock but we now have a substantial fleet on the field. Nomi gets some capital remote armour repair love on my battleship, as once again, Kane is primary.

THERE WAS A FIREFIGHT!

Lasers, missiles, projectiles and kitchen sinks were flying everywhere, it was bedlam as the hostile Thanatos came out of its second triage cycle. Again all DPS on the Arazu in case it dropped a second cyno and escalated but it wasn't long for this universe. Proteus was next on the table and it was delicious, crunchy, with a gooey centre.

Hostile Thanatos drops its third triage cycle and a friendly cyno is lit. Our neighbours and friends in Hrondedir, Jovian Enterprises, jump a Nyx super capital into the fray. Keira was on her way to get into ArKane, the NovaKane Inc Archon carrier but had technical difficulties mid warp.

Nyx

The Nyx is a gigantic homage to a figure much loved in Gallente society. The ship’s design is based on the scepter of Doule dos Rouvenor III, the king who, during his peaceful 36-year reign, was credited with laying the foundation for the technologically and socially progressive ideologies which have pervaded Gallente thought in the millennia since. Indeed, the Nyx itself is emblematic of the Gallenteans’ love for progress; packed to the ergonomic brim with the latest in cutting-edge advancements, it is a proud reminder of the things that make the Federation what it is.

Keira had just managed to get the Archon undocked as the Thanatos gave up. Need to keep your wits about you girl, can't live in a Claymore forever.

'Good Fight' was shared in local, as the hostiles returned to wherever they came from. Now, while it ended very one sided, please keep in mind it did not start that way and at any point it could have gone horribly wrong for us, but fortune favours the brave and I'm glad I stayed on the field to the conclusion.

Much love to Nomi for the RR, it seems my alliance mates are getting quite good at keeping me alive.

Monday, 24 May 2010

The hippo of recollection stirred in the muddy waters of the mind. -- (Terry Pratchett, Soul Music)

A Dramiel pilot had been haunting the local plex recently, ex Electus Matari and I decided to take Maurice out for a spin.

Jaguar

Name: Jaguar Hull: Rifter Class Role: Assault Ship

The Jaguar is a versatile ship capable of reaching speeds unmatched by any other assault-class vessel. While comparatively weak on the defensive front it sports great flexibility, allowing pilots considerable latitude in configuring their loadouts for whatever circumstances they find themselves in.

Developer: Thukker Mix

Being the brain-child of the nomadic Thukkers, it is no surprise the Jaguar is as fast as it is. Initially conceived as a way for the tribe to pack some added punch to their organized detachments, they've found it to be equally useful as messenger, scout and escort, and it is likely to become one of the most commonly-seen ships in the Thukkers' stomping grounds.

I easily caught up with the Dram and took out his drones but he was still slightly faster than me with afterburner even while webbed, I made a few fatal errors in the fight but I'll put that down to old age. It was a good fight but Maurice expired when the Dram hit about 25% armour, close, but not quite enough.

A great fight, it took a while but was worth it. Maurice was a veteran of many battles and it was a fitting end for the old boy. Time to unleash a new improved Jaguar fit upon the world :)

ISD Volunteers

Many moons ago I applied for the ISD volunteer program, I thought I could give advice to new players on what EVE was about... fast forward to this evening when out of the blue I finally got a response:

vms@eve-online.comto me, leads

show details7:50 PM (20 minutes ago)

Greetings!

Thank you for your recent application with the Eve Online volunteer program.

In your application, you indicated a desire to participate in the ISD Team: STAR team.

Upon review of your application and your player account, we have decided not to offer you a position within ISD:STAR.

This process is separate from other ISD volunteer department applications or interviews. Someone from any of the other ISD teams may still contact you, if they approve your application.

Sunday, 23 May 2010

Nothing gets my black pirate heart pumping more than the prospect of a carrier kill... Well there may be one or two things but killing a carrier is right up there.

When Asssassin X reported a carrier at a POS with a small support gang it was a thing of beauty as the locals got their shit together and prepped for what would hopefully be total carnage.

With not much notice a covops was put into place and it appeared from her reports that the carrier and friends had just set up a POS in Ingunn and they were repping the shields. Scimitar, Maelstrom, Harbinger, Myrmidon and Thanatos sitting outside of the POS shields happily going about their business. The covops moved into position for a warp in, our tactic involved rushing in and burning everything, a masterful tactic it is.

The assembled fleet of Pirates was shiny to say the least, Bhaalgorns, Machariels and assorted sharp bits with dual Guardian support, there was crime to be done and gosh darn if we didn't intend to do it in style.

With the covops in position above the carrier, the order was given to jump into Ingunn and warp to her position. Like clockwork, the Mean Coalition clock ticked, then tocked and in we rolled.

Support fleet was to go first, Myrmidon primaried with Harbinger secondary, they dropped rickety tick and the Maelstrom felt the full force of the Bhaalgorn's neuts and the fleet cut through it like a hot knife through butter. Carrier was now at our mercy as the Scimitar pilot had left the field.

All fire on the Thanny. Just as he entered armour he went into Triage, which technically means epic tank, but you can't tank if you have no capacitor and Bhaalgorns fuelled by a dual Guardian battery sucked the carrier dry.

Tuesday, 18 May 2010

It was hard enough to kill a vampire. You could stake them down and turn them into dust and ten years later someone drops a drop of blood in the wrong place and *guess who's back*? They returned more times than raw broccoli.

-- (Terry Pratchett, Feet of Clay)

Bait Brutix on Gus station...Of course it's a bloody bait Brutix...Nobody in their right mind hangs about the undock of Gusandall that long without being up to something.

So what do we do?

We try the reverse bait.

Now this is not as easy as it seems, first you need a big juicy target, like say, my Bhaalgorn, which I undock.

Bhaalgorn

Named after a child-devouring demon of Amarrian legend, the Bhaalgorn is the pride and joy of the Blood Raider cabal. Though it is known to be based on an Armageddon blueprint, the design's origin remains shrouded in mystery. Those of a superstitious persuasion whisper in the dark of eldritch ceremonies and arcane rituals, but for most people, the practical aspect of the matter will more than suffice: you see one of these blood-red horrors looming on the horizon, it's time to make yourself scarce.

Now in order for the reverse bait to work there needs to be a few critical issues to sort out. First and foremost, you can't really bait solo, it seems most of my contacts and alliance mates were passed out in the local bar.

That's ok, I can pull this off on my own... Sure I bloody can, I'm Kane Rizzel.

Secondly and this is the important part, the baitee mustn't just dock as soon as you undock :(

Unhappy with my failure to do even the simplest bait job, I dock the Bhaal and grab my Fleet Stabber, which I've had some fun with today already. Covops reports the Brutix undocks and warps towards Ingunn, at this point an associate has joined me on the hunt.

Stabber Fleet Issue

Responding to voices stating that the Stabber needed an upgrade to be viable as a fleet vessel of military standards, the Republic Fleet commissioned the creation of the Fleet Issue Stabber; a slower, hardier version of the original that packs quite a bit more firepower. Being as new as it is on the battlefield, the Fleet Issue Stabber hasn't seen many large engagements yet, but its engineers as well as Fleet command are very optimistic about its performance. Minmatar Cruiser Skill Bonus: 5% bonus to Medium Projectile Turret firing speed and 10% bonus to Medium Projectile Turret tracking speed per level.

WayCharles, my associate in this rather devilish game of cat and mouse reports the Brutix has warped to Sotrenzur and I point my Fleet Stabber in the direction of the gate and punch warp.

WARP DRIVE ACTIVE

AYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAY!!!

I barrel in and warp trails still pouring off my stabber as I lock the Brutix up, he replies in kind and BLOODY HELL, THE FUCKER HAS JUST ENGAGED ME... GAME ON BITCH.

The trap is sprung as intel reaches us of two Cyclones waiting on the other side of the gate have just jumped in.

I open up with some light showers of barrage ammo, as I keep well out of warp scrambler range but just enough to keep them interested. However they soon tire of chasing me and warp to the station. I warp to a spot 250km above and spy on them with my little eye.

I warp closer to about 10km off the station as we try another reverse bait whilst WayCharles reships into something with more range. The three battlecruisers start the chase, in true Benny Hill fashion I can hear Yakety Sax playing in the background. This goes on for about fifteen to twenty minutes before I have them sufficiently out of range of the station's docking radius.

The time has come, I close in on a Cyclone closest to WayCharles and tackle, he gets to about 15% hull when I stupidly lose point and he warp out but I'm quick to point the second Cyclone and we apply the hurt, meanwhile the Brutix has scarpered along with the first Cyclone. Qre and Shiln join in as the Cyclone of Pooterhead goes down. Pooterhead, the name rings a bell, a plex farmer from way back.

A great fight and capped off a good day for me, which saw me solo a gang of three Rifters in Eifer with the Fleet Stabber, an asleep at the wheel Rupture pilot who decided to take a break at a safespot in Gusandall, a curious Vexor pilot who claimed to be a little rusty in Eifer and a good trip out for the Bhaalgorn in Eifer as Mean Coalition welcomed a dual Maelstrom, Drake and Gila gang to our home (We missed the Gila)

The black welcomes me, like a prodigal son returning after a long absence, her cold embrace a reminder of why I do what I do.

I am Kane Rizzel, Pirate, freelancer and trouble maker extraordinaire, my home is Gusandall in the Evannater constellation of Heimatar, a home for over three years and a good home it has been.

The Angel Creo-Crop complex is a favourite haunt of mine and has in the past provided some excellent fights and more than my fair share of losses but it can be very lucrative. When targets are spotted trying to run through it, I make it a priority to run out the Gusandall welcome mat, in the shape of me.

Harpy

Name: Harpy Hull: Merlin Class Role: Assault Ship

Already possessing a reputation despite its limited initial circulation, the Harpy is a powerful railgun platform with long range capability and strong defensive systems. Formidable both one-on-one and as a support ship, it was referred to as the "little Moa" by the pilots who participated in its safety and performance testing.

Developer: Ishukone

Ishukone created the Harpy as a long-range support frigate for defense of Ishukone holdings as well as increased muscle and visibility in the constantly shifting game of cold war the Caldari megacorps' police forces play amongst themselves.

A Harpy piloted by Buschi was spotted trying to run the complex a few times but each time I got there, the Harpy had bugged out. Once, twice, three times a lady, I was getting a touch frustrated but persistence is key to success as a Pirate.

After having warped in a third time and narrowly missing him I warped to a shallow safe, spamming my on board scanner for his position. I got a hit once again in the direction of the plex and warped straight in. The curious nature of the plex made me burst out of warp right on top of him and it was imperative I gained distance on him, to get out of range of his blasters. Lock resolves, warp scrambler glows green and I open up with my pulse lasers. Harpy is a touch slow on the uptake and seems like forever before he locks back and starts to engage, by this time I have gained approximately 7.5km and am now in my sweet spot.

My knowledge of Harpy fittings led me to believe he would be blaster fit as it is very common, their short range would make range key to this fight.

His damage is negligible but my pulse lasers are rocking his verse, his shields bouncing around as he furiously tries to rep. He hits armour with shield booster still running but as he hits structure, the Harpy violently explodes, the fragile hull not up to the task.

A very reasonable offer for an experienced pilot but he chose poorly so I scooped yet another corpse for The Morgue.

And yes, I was flying a Succubus, not something many people fly these days, many choosing the high powered Dramiel but I like to do things slightly differently.

Succubus

The Succubus is one of the most feared frigates ever to harrow the space lanes and asteroid belts of civilized space, and with good reason: tales abound of its superiority over ships twice or three times its size. Whether you believe this to be fact or rumour, the Succubus will still strike fear in your heart.

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